1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus that attaches to an upright prong within the upper holding rack of a household dishwasher for holding a single stemmed glassware at a preferable orientation to permit washing and rinsing.
And more particularly it relates to an apparatus having a pivoting arm with an adjustable swiveling holding cradle that permits smaller glassware to be held in an inverted vertically aligned position and taller glassware to be inverted and leaned at an effective angle when dishwasher clearance becomes an issue.
2. Description of Related Art
The household automatic dishwasher has two characteristics detrimental to the cleaning of stemmed glassware: first, washing and rinsing is accomplished by spraying pressurized streams of water with sufficient force to dislodge dried food particles; and second, the upper holding rack intended for glasses and other small objects must be sufficiently generic in its design to accommodate a broad range of shapes. Stemmed glassware, being fragile and having a high center of gravity, often falls to the side or, worse yet, breaks during the dishwashing cycles. Furthermore, the height of stemmed glassware often exceeds the space available for vertical placement within the upper holding rack.
The present invention is an improvement over prior art that attempts to address the problem of securing stemmed glassware in household dishwashers. All prior inventions have fallen short of providing a practical solution. In addition to after-market devices, some dishwashers in today's homes include a factory installed cradling rack to accommodate stemware.
Typically, the factory device consists of an elongated cradle that extends at least half the dishwasher's depth and folds into position along one side of the dishwasher's upper holding rack. However, the factory device cannot be lifted into position unless the area surrounding the elongated cradle is empty. While suitable for dinner parties where planned cleanup is normal, the factory devices prove cumbersome for the more frequent, often unplanned occasions where only a few stemmed glasses require placement into a holding rack that is likely already partially full.
A number of after-market inventions have been introduced that are intended to secure stemmed glassware. Most of these devices are summarized in Arthurs et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,285 which also identifies their deficiencies. Despite the many patents, none have proven practical in application including Arthurs' invention. Arthurs teaches a simple one-piece device made from a flexible resilient material having a molded clamping member at each end of an elongated arm. At one end a tapered bifurcated gripper clamps onto the stem of a wineglass or the like, and at the other end a bored C-clamp secures to the dishwasher rack by gripping to a horizontal wire or by sliding over a vertical prong. While simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture, Arthurs fails to specify how the suggested fixed C-clamp is to be secured to the dishwasher's plastic-coasted wire rack considering that wire rack diameters vary considerably from one model to the next. Furthermore, no consideration is given that addresses the problem of inserting the bored member over bulb-tipped wire prongs, a common feature in higher-end dishwashers. The diameter of the bulbed tip is considerably larger than that of the post below the tip. There are other reasons why the simple one-piece accessory made from a “flexible resilient material” suggested by Arthurs may prove unrealistic: the material must be sufficiently rigid to provide the necessary clamping action that holds to all wire rack diameters, yet must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate all possible stem diameters being inserted into the “gripper assembly”. Also, the need to push the stemmed glass into the gripper introduces an additional unwanted hazard: if the stemware is pushed into the “gripper assembly” by holding the glass anywhere other than at the point where the stem contacts the gripper, the resulting torque applied to the stem could cause the glass to break.
Herbst et al, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/876,152 introduces an improved stemware grip over Arthurs' by teaching a moveable three-part spring-loaded clamping arm that is capable of grasping the wide range of stem diameters associated with different size stemware. Furthermore, Herbst et al provides an improved method of attachment to the wire holding rack. An elongated octagonal post permanently attaches to a vertical wire post within the upper or lower rack. According to Herbst, the octagonal post can accommodate up to four clamping arm members that can be positioned radially about the post. The clamping arms are designed to be easily removed and reattached to the post as needed. Both Arthurs and Herbst teach stemware securing devices that require the glass to be inverted in a completely vertical orientation. Because of height limitations in the upper rack, vertical positioning will usually restrict the use of these devices to the lower holding rack. In most cases, however, users prefer placing glassware in the upper rack with larger objects such as dishes and cookware going into the lower rack. Additionally, Herbst's device requires that the elongated octagonal posts be mounted to a vertical prong within the dishwasher rack. However, upright wire prongs are not always vertically positioned. Thus, the user may be required to bend selected wire prongs within their dishwasher into a more upright orientation. Many users may find this requirement a little too extreme. Also, the clamping arms described by Herbst have a fixed horizontal orientation outwardly extending from the mounting post. Such an orientation will likely cause interference with the placement of non-stemware items when not in use, thus necessitating the removal and reinstallation of the clamping arms for securing stemware with each washing.